MORE BIRDS FOR BOUBOU B&B

If you love Africa, the Bushveld and birds, a visit to BOUBOU B&B near Rustenburg in the North Eastern corner of the North West Province of South Africa is a MUST! It's 4-star luxury, and if you spend some time on the patio at dawn, you will be entertained by a surprising variety of winged visitors to the very bird-friendly garden. And Nyala feeding just on the other side of the fence!

Early morning bird watching on the patio of BOUBOU B&B

A few of the birds spotted at BOUBOU B&B: 
Groundscraper Thrush,  Longbilled Crombec,
Southern Pied Babbler,  White-Throated Robin-Chat.

The beautiful Magalies mountain range.

My husband and & I was taken on a game drive.

You don't want to miss the African Sunset!

I have just completed another commissioned painting for Boubou B&B which, to me, captures a little bit of the paradise of watching the birds at dawn:

Completing this painting has been a process spread out over about a year. After an initial briefing and inspiration from Marnice, owner of BOUBOU B&B, this was the initial sketch I came up with:

With back-and -forth email conversation and more input form Marnice,  it underwent some transformations. First, the composition was changed to put more emphasis on the birds:

Then, colour was added, and the bright colours definitely struck a chord:

Several other options were considered, but it was this composition which developed into the finished product, which will soon find a place on one of the walls of BOUBOU B&B.

Previous commissions done for BOUBOU B&B include: 

Call of the Boubou

and:

Song of the Boubou (Set of Three)

I happily undertake commissions. 

Contact me at ewade@absamail.co.za

A WINGED START TO THE NEW YEAR

A local B&B, Birds of Paradise have twice commissioned me to do a series of nine watercolour birds for them. My blog posts about it can be viewed here and here. Tourists from the UK who visited Eshowe last year saw some of these bird paintings at Birds of Paradise and asked me to make them their own three bird paintings. These have recently been completed and are representative of some of the species of African Birds that they encountered and became fond of: the Hoopoe, Fish Eagle and Masked Weaver.

African Hoopoe. Watercolour. 260x360mm 

Who can forget the haunting call of the African Fish Eagle? It's the call of Africa. One of my fondest memories is of a sunrise canoe ride on Lake Sekhunto, near Pondweni and Tembe Elephant Park in Northern Natal, where we had a Bush Camp.

We were very wary of Hippos, but were treated to more than one fish eagle swooping down for an early morning catch.

On a more recent fishing boat trip on the lake system near St Lucia, I was able to photograph a fish eagle enjoying its meal on a branch. This will probably be my next painting!

 

African Fish Eagle. Watercolour. 260x360mm

Watching the weavers build their nests, entertained by their happy (and very busy) chirping and zwirring can be a fascinating pastime.  I just had the opportunity again this past weekend. Look at this one,  for instance: (You got to start SOMEWHERE!):

Masked Weaver. Watercolour. 260x360mm

Painting this set of three bird watercolour paintings was very satisfying and inspiring. Look out for some more bird and wildlife watercolours in the near future!

Set of Three Bird Watercolours completed for Collectors in the UK.